But how are you supposed to know that? The label says it's fat free! How can they manipulate you like that? Aren't there laws keeping food manufacturers on the up-and-up?

Well, yes, there are, but manufacturers are spin masters. Much like tabloid headlines, food packaging isn't designed to inform; it's designed to distort the truth so you'll pick it up. However, where tabloids can continue the charade page after page, once you turn over food packaging, the distortion comes to an abrupt halt. Behold your secret weapon against dodging food manufacturersthe Nutrition Facts box.

Serving Size 34g
Servings per package 15

Amount Per Serving

Calories

160.0000

Calories from Fat

60.0000

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7.0000g

11 %

Saturated Fat 1.5000g

7 %

Cholesterol 0mg

0 %

Sodium 210.0000mg

9 %

Total Carbohydrate 24.0000g

8 %

Dietary Fiber 1.0000g

4 %

Sugars 13.0000g

Protein 2.0000g

Amount Per Serving

Calories

160.0000

Calories from Fat

60.0000

% Daily Value*

Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0%

Iron 8%

To learn a little more about the box, let's have a look-see at that perennial favorite, the Oreo cookie. The first thing we'll look at is the serving size: 3 cookies. Sounds good. I don't know a lot of Oreo eaters who stop at three, but now we know that everything we read on this chart is based on three cookies.

Sometimes, a company can get a little sneaky with thiscase in point, the "serving size" of a 20-ounce bottle of Coke. If you look at the nutritional facts, you discover that they're meant for an 8-ounce serving. That is to say, one bottle is intended to be split between two and a half people. Nobody does this, in part because half people aren't generally interested in soft drinks. A superficial read of the label leaves you thinking you're drinking 100 calories when, in fact, you're quaffing 250 calories of High-Fructose Corn Syrup.

But I digress. Back to the Oreos. Your three cookies are 160 calories. Of this 160, around 60 are fat, 94 are carbohydrates, and 2 are protein. Those of you into math may notice these numbers don't follow the exact calculation of multiplying the grams into calories. That's because within reason, companies can round these numbers off, but now we're splitting hairs.

Let's start by looking at the fat. Just what kind of fat are we going to find? For that, we'll skip down a line.

There are four kinds of fat: saturated, trans, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated. As you probably know, the first two are bad and the last two are good. Currently, the FDA requires that only saturated fat be listed, so we see that of the 7g of fat, 1.5g are saturated. But hold on, what about the remaining 5.5g? Is it happy unsaturated fat or evil processed trans fat? Fortunately, as of January 1, 2006, food manufacturers will be required to list trans fat as well, but until then, we're forced to pop down to the listed ingredients and do a little guesswork.

Ingredients are listed in amounts, from most to least, so here we see Oreos are, surprisingly, made primarily of sugar. Bad, sure, but not a source of fat. Next comes enriched flour. Also bad, but also not fat. Next comes partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Bingothere's your fat right thereand evil trans fat, in fact, so it's safe to assume that some of that unaccounted-for 5.5g is trans fat. (The actual number, FYI, is 2.5g of trans fat.)

To the right of all these numbers, you'll notice more numbers with percentage signs next to them. This is the percentage of the amount of that nutrient you should be getting daily, based a 2,000-calorie diet. It's probably the most complicated part of the box. First off, not everyone eats 2,000 calories a day. So if you eat more, or less, you'll have to do a little math.

Secondly, for the total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium percentages, you should be eating that or less than that. (That said, our suggestion is to treat the total fat and sodium percentages as a number you target, not consume less than.) For total carbohydrates, you should be having that more-or-less exactly.

For all the vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber, you should be having at least that much.

You'll also notice that some labels include additional information. The FDA requires that all food labels list total calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron. However, there are a host of other nutrients that the food manufacturer can opt to list, such as polyunsaturated fat, potassium, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, sugar alcohol, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Odd, you say? I thought so, too.

Our next stop is cholesterol. There are plenty of claims out there that eating good cholesterol will lower our bad cholesterol. These are largely unproven. Evidence may, in time, become more concrete, but for now, avoiding any cholesterol is the best course of action. The body makes all the good cholesterol you need without you trying to add more. Oreos have no cholesterol.

After that is sodium. As we suggested above, you need sodium, especially if you're on a sweaty, difficult exercise program, so try to treat this as an amount to aim for. That said, very few people need to actively seek out sodium. Just eat a balanced diet and it will find you. Our three cookies have 210mg of sodium, or 9% of the recommended daily allowance.

Next come carbs. This is a somewhat vague section of the Nutrition Facts box. While listing total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and sugars is mandatory, listing sugar alcohol and complex carbs is not. In fact, there is no listing for complex carbs, only the mysterious heading "other carbohydrates." It's a rare label indeed that really spells out a food's carbohydrate breakdown.

Although our Oreos have no sugar alcohol, let's discuss the stuff for a minute. Sugar alcohol is naturally occurring in the body and, at this writing, its only real problem is the occasional gastrointestinal difficulty. If the box doesn't specifically list sugar alcohols, you can look for them in the ingredientsthey usually have the suffix "-itol."

Keep in mind that sugar alcohol isn't, as often advertised, guilt-free sweetness. While other carbohydrates have 4 calories to the gram, sugar alcohol still has about 1.5 or 2 calories per gram. The rest is made of indigestible matter, hence the reason for gastric problems.

Looking at our Oreos, we don't see any "-itol" ingredients. However, the second ingredient is enriched flour, so it's safe to assume that the unaccounted-for 10g of carbohydrates are complex.

One neat thing you can do in the carb part of the Nutrition Facts box is determine if a food will cause a sugar spike. Although protein and fat slow sugar absorption, fiber does the best job, so if your fiber's high, you're in better shape. Oreos have 1g of fiber, so it looks like spike city.

Finally, protein. Our Oreos have 2g of protein. Unfortunately, the box doesn't list whether this is a complete protein or not, so you'll have to look at the ingredients and bone up on protein sources. The last ingredient in our Oreos is whey, so some of that protein is probably complete, albeit there's not enough to add to your nutritional profile for the day.

After this, the box goes into vitamins and minerals. Oreos don't have much, save a little iron from the enriched flour.

See? Labels are not all that tough. Now you're empowered. They can throw all the claims at you they want, but you're not going to fall for them because you're now a label reader!

Recipe: BBQ Chicken Salad
Our first recipe comes to us from Lee Ann Brown of St. Petersburg, Florida. She's come up with a great marinade for chicken, just as you're cleaning off your grill and getting ready for a summer of outdoor cooking.

Keep in mind that while there's a hefty amount of oil in the marinade, most of it won't end up on the bird or the veggies and any that does is monounsaturated fat.

This recipe would go great with a big, leafy green salad and a chilled glass of chardonnay (but only if you feel like cheating a little).

Nice work, Lee Ann. When you're grilling, make sure not to spill any marinade on your new Beachbody T-shirt!
BBQ Chicken Salad

Slice onions and zucchini in large slices, and cut the peppers into quarters.

Place the vegetables in a shallow pan and pour 1/2 of the marinade over it.

Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken.

Let both sit for 2 hours.

Grill the chicken over medium coals for 5 minutes; turn over and grill an additional 5 minutes.

Grill vegetables for 6 minutes while chicken cooks.

Serves 4, approx. 350 calories per serving.

If you have a recipe you think is both healthy and delicious, send it on over to us at recipes@beachbody.com. If we publish your recipe, we'll send you a free Beachbody T-shirt!

Tip of the WeekBy Steve Edwards
5 Tips to Prevent Muscle SorenessWhen going through any exercise program, you will have some muscle soreness no matter what you do, but if you follow these tips you can keep your soreness to a minimum:

Start Your Program Slowly. Don't go too hard on day 1 after you've had a layoff. Stop before you're completely wiped out.

Warm Up. Always take 5 to 10 minutes to warm up thoroughly.

Stretch After. Always stretch at the end of your workout5 to 10 minutes spent will do wonders for your recovery time.

Have a Post-Exercise Snack. A snack that is 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein can speed recovery by 26%.

Self-Massage. Spend 5 minutes massaging yourself each night. A professional massage is better, of course, but not nearly as practical. Spend 5 minutes and you'll sleep better and recover quicker.

Join Debbie Siebers in Hollywood This SummerOnly a Few Weeks Left!
Are you ready to come meet and work out with Debbie Siebers in Hollywood? If you’ve achieved your weight loss goals using any of the following Beachbody slimming products (Slim in 6, Slim Series, or 6-Day Express™ Diet Plan), just submit your “before” and “after” photos or videos along with your inspiring Success Story for the opportunity to experience a vacation of a lifetime. You’ll enjoy all the glitz and glamour that Southern California has to offerfrom showing off your sexy new body on the beautiful beaches to appearing on the next Slim in 6 television show.

This year's search for Slim in 6, Slim Series, and 6-Day Express Diet Plan Success Stories ends June 15, 2004. So hurry and get your submission in today!

Click here to learn more and to watch a video of last year's Hollywood trip.